Izra's Fall
by EnderFriend284
Summary: Izra is slowly being consumed by the sand, and before he looses himself to it, there are some things he feels he has to do. Meanwhile, the other lords are left to deal with the threat a new prophecy brings. How will they deal with a new enemy who painfully reminds them of a lost friend at every meeting. Sequel to Ender's Journey, so it is recommended that you read that story first.
1. The Dangers of Chaos Sand

**A/N: Hey, Ender here, and welcome to my new story. I will be updating it once a week on the weekend like I was doing before, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Izra's POV**

Everything hurt. Even doing simple things like walking and stretching caused me immense pain. The sand was slowly taking over, and like so many things associated with Chaos magic, it was not an enjoyable process. Pulling myself shakily up off the floor and into a half siting position, I remembered back to the day that had put me into this situation. It hadn't been all that long ago, but the weight of what had happened in the time since made it seem like a long forgotten age. It had been when I was traveling with Ender, a part of her quest to overthrow Teloxen, but things hadn't gone exactly as planned. Notchie and Ender had ended up getting separated from everyone else and trapped in some deep section of the Crafter prison. To save them, I had cut a deal with Sallen, promising that I would do one thing for him in exchange for their safety. The memory of the day I had to make good on that deal was still vivid, every second of it etched permanently into my memory.

_**Flashback**_

I was sitting under a tree overlooking the prison, making sure to stay under the cover of the tall grass which obscured the gaze of anyone who would be looking up from there.

"I put your friends at the camp." I heard a voice say from the tree behind me. Startled, I looked up and saw the figure from before stretched out over several leaf blocks. "You better make good on your promise."

"I will." I assured him "What do I have to do?"

"Well its simple see," he said, jumping down and sitting next to me. As he talked, I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Sallen gestured to a small bag he had placed in front of him. "All you have to do is stick your hand in this."

Hesitantly I reached over and grabbed the bag, opening it a bit so I could see what was inside. A single block of sand lay within, twisting gray patterns winding through the grains.

"What is this?" I gasped, its shifting pattern capturing the entirety of my focus.

"Chaos sand." said Sallen, glancing at it. "Just touch it."

I reached one hand into the bag, placing my palm just above the surface of the block. Closing my eyes, I jerked my arm downwards, bringing it into contact with the block. Sharp stabs of pain arced through my hand. Falling to my knees as I reeled in pain, I struggled to remove my hand from the block. As I moved though, the block moved with me, tendrils reaching out from it and winding around my wrist, snaking higher as I watched.

"There is no use in resisting." said Sallen "Chaos sand is not something that can be controlled by your kind. It has its own will and so only those who are true followers of Chaos have any influence over it. Even then though, it is still difficult to deal with. It you don't accept it though, it will be a much more painful process."

"But.. I can't!" I gasped, supporting myself on my one good arm, eyes locked on the sand as it climbed higher "I've got to protect my friends!"

"That's too bad." said Sallen "It would have sped up the process immensely. Now I've got to sit here and wait for it to overpower you."

While speaking in had lost track of how far the sand had progressed. Looking down, I saw that thin chains of sand had wound themselves around me. All at once, the chains tightened, driving the partials of sand deep into my skin. Screaming, I lost the strength in my arm that kept me up, dropping myself flat on the ground. This only served to drive many of the grains further into my skin. This increase in pain was too much for me. A wall of blackness engulfed me, bringing with it the bliss of unconsciousness.

When I awoke, the pain had lessened, replaced with a dull ache that pulsed through my body. Groaning, I rolled over onto my back. My eyes caught a glimpse of a blue-gray blur, and I stiffened, wondering if I was about to be attacked. After a moment of panic in which no attacked occurred, I finally got my eyes to focus enough to identify the shape. The blur resolved itself into the figure of Sallen, standing a little ways off, leaning against a tree.

"You!" I hissed. Sallen glanced over, pursing his lips in amusement.

"Yes me." he said "What of it?"

"You did this to me!" I hissed.

"You brought this upon yourself." said Sallen, walking a few steps closer "All I did was give you a choice, and in all fairness, I was just going to have you do something really stupid, like try to catch fish with your toes or something. But when Zeren found out, it was either this happens to you or I get locked up in some nasty dungeon. So if you want to blame someone, blame him."

"I don't care why it happened!" I screeched "Someone needs to be punished for it now, and you are the only one convenient."

"I didn't think it would work it this fast." said Sallen, his face showing surprise and alight concern.

"What do you mean?" I asked, taken aback by his response.

"The sand," he said "It gives powers, but it also causes personality shifts. It is an entity in itself, so you could say that it boosts a negative trait associated with Chaos kind. In your case, it seems like it is affecting your aggression, unless you would normally try to obliterate someone with a power much stronger than yours?"

"Maybe you are right." I sighed. Struggling to sit up, I noticed a faint stain of blood around me, as well as gray tinged scars that snaked across my arms and continued across my body.

"What happened?" I asked, my eyes tracing the scars, the twisting lines mimicking those that had appeared on the sand block.

Sallen bit his lip and said "The sand, um, well how much do you remember?"

"The sand had wrapped around me and started digging into my skin." I said "Tell me what happened after that."

"Well the sand forced itself into you," said Sallen "Presumably into your bloodstream. And its not like I could just leave you here to bleed to death, because if you lived then I would be hunted down." Sallen seemed to calm slightly as he focused on relaying facts rather than the emotion of the situation. "So I healed your injuries, and trust me, it was not easy. You were flailing about, and I got all scratched up trying to help." When he said this, I noticed that he has several long scratches on each arm, fresh enough that scabs were only now beginning to form.

"What am I going to do?" I whispered, placing my hands over my face. "I can't go back to the others like this." I heard a strange noise, and when I looked up, I saw Sallen brushing away a tear.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly concerned as to what could make a chaos lord cry.

"Its nothing" murmured Sallen "Just not great with emotions. As for what you are going to do, I do have a way to help you, but you would have to trust me."

"What do I have to do?" I asked hesitantly, remembering how the last time I had asked that had turned out."

"Just eat this." said Sallen, holding out a small piece of bread. "Its enchanted, and it will put up an illusion spell on you to cover up your scars. It should go unnoticed, but have some kind of excuse just in case."

"Why should I trust you?" I asked, eying the item warily. "You could have poisoned it or something.

"Yes" sighed Sallen "I went through all of the trouble of saving you just so I could poison you. Are all lords really this dense?"

After that I had taken the bread without question, knowing though that it would not last forever and I would be indebted to Sallen. It hadn't mattered. All that had mattered was staying with my friends to make sure that they were okay. A decision which almost cost a friend her life.

_**End Flashback**_

Pulling myself back into the present, I pushed my palms against my eyes in a vain attempt to stem the flow of tears. The memory of what had happened in the Aether still brought tears to my eyes, even now, many months after it had happened. I had lost control there. The sand had taken over and I had nearly killed Ender. If Notchie had not known how to counteract the poison, her fate would have been much different.

After that night, the nightmares came. Present every night, yet their contents shifted. Realms burned, lords fell, wars raged. Then the worst night. The night of prophecy. A dream I had told to only one lord, and even then not in its entirety. The dream which had shown me the prophecy of the sands. Closing my eyes, I could practically see the words, that's how vividly they stood out in my mind.

_When fallen lord is given power,_

_The world prepares for it's darkest hour._

_Chaos' sand rules the lord's mind,_

_Presenting new goals for him to find._

_The land does fall to storms of sand,_

_Yet some do live to make a stand._

_Into another world the lord is cast,_

_All do hope the danger is past._

_A second war does bring his rise,_

_And new quests lead to new allies._

_Space and earth together quest,_

_Together facing every test._

_Realmkind watch and Realmkind fear,_

_Forbidden to help when danger's near._

_One lord per realm does break the rule,_

_In secret they help them keep their cool._

_When final fight does come one day,_

_To bring him down there's but one way._

_If to save a friend lord you do desire,_

_It must be done with the power of fire._

_Lords shall change and realms shall bend,_

_Those called enemies now called friend._

_And with the fall of sand a new order shall rise,_

_One which shall hasten chaos' demise._

_But listen well to all who hear,_

_Many wish to kill all things they fear._

_Yet balance is required in every place,_

_And those who lack shall find defeat in whatever they face._

The prophecy that spelled out my fate, that told the terrors I would do. And judging from the progress of the sand, it would not be far off. Every time I used my powers, the consequences were worse. I would pass out randomly, falling into a restless sleep, only to be awoken by terrible pain. The night I received the prophecy was the night I finally accepted Sallen's offer. An alliance to take down Zeren when he deemed the time was right. I wanted to ensure I was able to accept as myself. For when the sand took hold, it was Israphel who was present, not me. And I wanted to make Zeren pay for what he had forced upon me. For forcing me to attack my friends and ultimately into this situation in the first place. But most of all, the alliance gave me some time, not matter how short , to try to protect my friends before the sand took permanent control.

The sound of the door opening caused me to look up, revealing Teloxen silhouetted in the doorway, the light of the hallway pouring into my darkened room. Teloxen had been allowed out of the prison a few days after Zeren had disowned him, but the experience had broken him partially, and even after this time his shattered heart was just starting repair. His wings had finally been cleared of the infections that had plagued him since Zeren had mangled them, thanks to constant tending by Sallen. No one ever dared to say it, but we all knew that if Zeren ever found out, the same thing that had happened to Teloxen would probably happen to Sallen. Both Rayko and Teloxen had reluctantly accepted membership to our alliance for protection. I hoped these extra members would give our alliance a better chance of success when Sallen determined it was time to act.

"Are you okay?" Teloxen asked, helping me to my feet.

"As well as you can expect" I sighed "What did you need?"

"Sallen asked us if we could meet him in his lab" said Teloxen "Don't know why though."

"Might as well go now" I sighed, heading to the doorway "It's not like I've got better things to do."

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**A/N: I hope that you guys enjoyed this first chapter. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and I read them all. Also, you should all go check out the Yogscast's new song "Moon Quest: The Epic Journey". Even if you don't watch their series' it is an inspirational stand alone song. If you have any questions for the characters, they can be left in a review or PM'ed to me. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	2. The Banished Lord

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. No reviews this week, but its only the second chapter, so we still have time. This chapter is longer than most of my usual chapters, thanks to the fact I finally had a homework free weekend. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft.**

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**Izra's POV**

"So why are we here?" asked Rayko, leaning against the wall of Sallen's lab, the red coloring of his robe accents and some of his feathers having a sharp contrast to to the blue color that filled most of the room.

"Not sure." said Teloxen shrugging "Sallen just told me to get you guys so we could meet here."

We stayed in Sallen's lab for a while longer, waiting for him to return from whatever task he was carrying out. The fluid filled tanks that lined one wall of the room made slight bubbling noises every so often, the only sounds to break the stillness that permeated the lab.

I had almost given up all effort to stay awake when the steady tromp of footsteps sounded outside. The lab doors swung open and Sallen walked in. The look he gave us told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to needed to stay quiet and try not to do anything noticeable right now. The reason for this was quickly apparent when the doors opened once more and Zeren walked in. Upon seeing him, Teloxen paled, taking small steps backwards until his back was flat against the wall, wings splayed to either side. After what Zeren had done, Teloxen had been terrified of what Zeren would do to him if he got near him again. Rayko glanced at Teloxen sympathetically. Soon after, a Wither skeleton emerged from a concealed entrance near where they stood. It quietly led Teloxen out of the room through the entrance it had come from, drawing only a slight approving glance from Sallen. Rayko and I usually shared the duty of making sure Teloxen stayed out of Zeren's way whenever he unexpectedly turned up with Sallen, which seemed to happen with an alarming frequency as of late.

"So why did you want to talk to us?" asked Sallen, his expression betraying nothing.

"It has come to my attention that the banished lord has arrived in the Overworld."

"What, you mean Mirexal?" asked Sallen.

"Don't say that name!" hissed Zeren "Never say that name. If any of you are to see that lord, it is your obligation to end him, for he is a traitor to the kind."

"Yeah, whatever." said Sallen as Zeren turned to leave.

"Oh, and Sallen?" said Zeren, turning slightly to look over his shoulder, eyes burning with warning "You would do well to choose more carefully the ones you choose to associate with. Don't think I haven't seen you associating with that traitorous servant."

"Who are you to control who I choose to ally myself with?" said Sallen, crossing his arms "You seem to forget that I am a powerful lord in my own right, not one of those lords who follow you without question like helpless sheep." These clashes between Zeren and Sallen seemed to occur on a regular basis, both trying to attain more power without disturbing the delicate balance that provided an uneasy peace for the Chaos kind.

"Just keep my words in mind." said Zeren, walking out.

As soon as Zeren left, Sallen dropped his air of calm. "Ugh, why is he such a massive pain?" groaned Sallen, placing his hands over his face, then looking towards the ceiling as his hands moved upwards in a questioning gesture.

"Um, Sallen, who exactly is that lord Zeren wanted us to look out for?" asked Rayko "I never heard about any lords who were actually been banished. You know, like actually kicked out, must kill on site kind of banished."

"Yeah, and there is a reason for that." sighed Sallen, twisting a lock of hair between his fingers "Zeren has forbidden everyone who knew of it to talk about it, and those who refused to keep quiet just disappeared."

"So what's the story then?" asked Rayko, eyes showing a deep curiosity.

"I just said it is forbidden to talk about, and now you want me to do so?" said Sallen raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, that would be awesome." said Rayko.

"Fine," sighed Sallen "But not here. I quite like my lab and I don't want to have to leave it forever."

"Where are you going to find somewhere Zeren won't have a chance of noticing?" I asked "Zeren seems to have a magical ability to always randomly walk in on us when anything is trying to be accomplished."

Sallen started chewing on the lock of hair he held, eyes staring off, lost in thought. "There is one place we could go." he said after a moment "I doubt Zeren would go there even if he knew we were."

"Really?" asked Rayko "There is somewhere that Zeren will not go? I really want to know about that. Where is it?"

"It has nothing to do with where it is." said Sallen "It has to do with what is located there. The ruins of my family's estate."

**Steve's POV**

The sun streaked through the forest canopy, sending mottled splashed of light flickering across my body as the leaves swayed in the faint breeze. As I walked, I allowed the calmness of the forest to flow over me, allowing myself to relax from the state of wariness I had adopted in order to deal with my siblings. Both Notch and Herobrine had been staying at my castle since the Chaos lord confrontation, Herobrine because his realm was occupied, and Notch because his magic was still not strong enough to properly manage a realm. Shadow and Jeb were doing their best to manage the realm until he was recovered sufficiently to do so himself.

Even though they had made up for what had happened between them before, Herobrine and Notch still had conflicting personalities that caused quite a bit of trouble when they clashed. And as always, I would end up caught in the crossfire between them. I had toughed it out until now, but another fight had broken out and I just had to get out. After recruiting Cresilia to referee my brothers, I made a break for the woods, hoping that the calm setting would help to release my stress.

Suddenly, I felt as though someone was watching me. Turning, I shifted my gaze across the tree branches, knowing that was the most likely place for a person to conceal themselves with little chance of being seen. Years of being pranked by Herobrine had made me more aware of the areas few people usually looked, and areas above a person's head were at the top of that list. Sure enough, I saw a man sitting in a tree a few blocks from where I stood.

"Oh good, someone to talk to." the man said, face lighting up as a huge smile crossed his features. "You would not believe how boring this place is. Hardly anyone comes by, and when they do they are so oblivious. Not one of them have noticed me. Except for you."

"So why have you camped out in in the forest anyway?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," he said "I heard from these two guys, E and Dark, that someone in this area had a connection to the Enderlords. I've been looking for someone for ages now who would help me get in touch with their head lord."

"What do you want with my brother?" I asked, growing wary of this unknown man.

"Oh, um, awkward." he said, blushing slightly "I'm sorry, can we start over?"

"Sure" I said, slightly taken aback by this response.

"So, uh, I'm Mirexal, and the reason I am looking for your brother is that I am an acquaintance of the lord he is spirit bonded to. So can you take me to him?"

"Sure." I said hesitantly "But if you try anything, I will not hesitate to take you out."

"Got it." he said.

"Be careful coming down." I said, noticing that he wore shorts and flip-flops, neither of which would protect him well from any bark scrapes."

"No worries." he said, jumping down from the tree. Inwardly I winced, preparing to witness a painful landing. Instead, two magenta and gray wings stretched about halfway open, slowing Mirexal's fall enough to to ensure a soft landing.

"You're a Chaos lord?" I asked, taking a step back.

"Didn't I tell you that?" asked Mirexal looking slightly confused "I'm sorry, I meant to."

"Why would I take a Chaos lord to see my brother?" I spat.

"Yeah, I've been told I don't explain things well." Mirexal admitted "So, um, yeah. I'm a Chaos lord, but uh, I kind of got kicked out for not listening to Zeren's silly rules. Those rules were really boring too, all about things you can't do and say."

"Fine." I grumbled "but you make one mistake, say one wrong thing, and I'll let Herobrine have you to test his dangerous pranks on."

"That's fine with me." he said, touching his fingers into a ring shape and holding them over his head. "See, I'll be a little angel."

**Izra's POV**

"What happened here?" I asked, staring at the ruins of what must have once been a magnificent estate.

"Chaos lord politics happened." said Sallen "Our household was becoming powerful, trading with others had widely increased our influence, and so we were viewed as a threat by the ruling family. That's why no one questioned it when reports came of our household staging an attack on the leaders. What few know is that there never was an attack. At least not one that was planed."

"What happened then?" asked Rayko "Something defiantly happened. I mean, almost two entire households were eliminated."

"Zeren happened." spat Sallen "He set it all up. He was impatience to wait to be willingly given power, so he decided to take it by force."

"What did he do?" I asked cautiously.

"He killed his father." said Sallen "That was bad enough, but he made it look like he had been killed by members of my household. Of course, we denied all accusations, but when he..." Sallen trailed off, taking a deep breath and wiping always half formed tears. "When he killed my mother, we would not stand for it. Deliberate provocation or not, my father was distraught by what had happened and launched an attack as retaliation. Looking back, perhaps if I had thought about the situation more rationally, I would have had been able to prevent the damage. If our house had not retaliated, they would have been hard pressed to to find a reason to hold the high lord's death against us."

"So what happened next?" asked Rayko breathlessly, caught up in the account of what had happened.

"What was bound to happen." sighed Sallen "Many members of both households died, and Zeren took the opportunity to rid himself permanently of those lords he believed to pose a threat to him. When it ended, he was pretty much the only member of his household still alive, save for a few low ranking lords. He had most of the members of my household that were captured executed, but to some he offered a choice. Join his household and live as a lord under him, or die. Now most of them chose to die, but I could not. See, Zeren had more influence over me because of Mirexal."

"Who exactly is Mirexal?" I asked.

"Mirexal was, is my little brother." said Sallen "And I had always promised my mother I would protect him. So Zeren made me an offer he knew I could not refuse. Either I join Zeren and he would banish Mirexal if he refused to join him, or I would die, but not before I saw Mirexal either join my enemy or die before me. And for all his skills, Zeren had far too many rules then for Mirexal to ever consent to his rule. So I only ever had one option."

"So Zeren banished Mirexal." I said "And you became head planner for your greatest enemy."

"Yes," said Sallen "It was the only was I could hope to give Mirexal a chance at freedom. After Mirexal was banished though, Zeren decreed that if he was ever seen again, all Chaos kind were ordered to kill him on site. Sometimes I still can't believe he would do all this to someone he once considered to be a friend."

"Mirexal and Zeren were friends?" asked Rayko "and he still did all that? But why?"

"Desire for power." said Sallen "It corrupted Zeren, changed him. Few remember how it was before, and for me it starts to sound more like a fairy tale every time I tell it."

"Please tell us what happened." said Teloxen, stepping out from behind an outcropping of rock. "Perhaps it will help to better understand the lord I formally knew as father."

"All right." sighed Sallen "Many, many years ago, there were two families. They got along well enough, and their youngest children became close friends. The child of one family was called Zeren and the child from the other was called Mirexal. One day, when they were playing in the walled courtyard that connected the dwellings of the two families, the children decided to climb the walls, to see how much further the world extended beyond what they knew. When they reached the top, top, all they could see was plains of grass extending out in all directions. Just on the edge of their sight, they saw a small figure moving through the grass. They really wanted to find out what was out there, but both families had been very clear. They were not to step foot outside the walls under any circumstances. So what did they do? They made dummies of dry grass, dressed them in their outer robes, and climbed out over the wall to see who or what was out there, leaving their watcher to get in trouble rather than them. And of course, that person was me, so rather than staying behind to get in trouble, I figured that if I went after them, I had a chance of keeping us all out of trouble. Anyway, I went off after them, but the grass was practically taller than they were, so it was quite difficult to tell where they were at any time. When I finally caught up with them, they had been joined by a third child. He was taller than Mirexal and Zeren by a few inches, and although he had wings like they did, his tail and antennae made it pretty clear that he was not a Chaos lord. Mirexal later told me that he was he was an Ender lord, and that his name was Illusion."

"Illusion like the Ender lord leader forever and ages Illusion?" asked Rayko, clearly surprised.

"Yes" said Sallen. Turning to me, he said "You might better know him as the lord Shadow is spirit bonded to."

"I though that was just part of the strange rumors Teloxen had started to to make people scared."

"Well that one is true" said Sallen.

"How did they get along if they were Chaos lords and he was an Ender lord?" asked Teloxen "Relations between the races were slightly better then" said Sallen "Trust was not exactly a common thing, but it was not the kill on site thing that we have today. And they were little anyway, so it probably would not have mattered one way or another to them. It was only after Zeren attacked the households that things really got dangerous."

"Why?" asked Rayko "Surely the Enderlords would be delighted that they had fewer opponents."

"And now we get to the real reason it is forbidden to talk about Mirexal." said Sallen "He refused to follow Zeren's rule, and so he was banished. At that point, there was really only one place he could go."

"Straight to Illusion's house." guessed Teloxen.

"Right" said Sallen "Illusion was outraged at what had happened, especially since until then they had been quite close friends. And so Zeren outlawed any mention of Mirexal, so that any suspicion regarding his own assertion of power would go unnoticed."

"So now Mirexal is back?" asked Rayko.

"Yes" said Sallen "and for this reason, I would steer clear of Zeren for a while."

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**A/N:I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, consider leaving a review. You can also leave any questions for the characters in a review or PM them to me. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	3. To the End

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. I would like to thank GtoCrafting95 for reviewing this week. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Steve's POV**

"Are we there now?" groaned Mirexal, trudging through the swamp muck "This is boring and it smells nasty here."

Inwardly I felt a bit bad for Mirexal. He wasn't exactly dressed for travel of any kind. At least my attire kept me from having swamp sludge all over my feet. Mirexal was not faring so well. His flip-flops kept out none of the mud, and what's more, they kept snagging on bits of debris under the murky water, sending him splashing to the ground every so often.

"You know, you could make this whole lot easier on yourself by flying." I said "I won't think its some kind of covert trick."

"But that would be rude!" said Mirexal "Big Brother says that doing something in front of someone who can't is showing off and rude!"

"To be honest I could care less right now." I said "This would go a lot faster if we didn't have to stop every five minutes because you are picking yourself up out of the mud."

"Well I guess if you think its okay." said Mirexal, flicking drops of mud off his wings before stretching them to take flight. I appreciated the fact that he at least thought to stay relatively close to me, allowing me to track him by sight rather than any boosted senses. While I probably could sense him if I really tried, I might end up passing out. It was one of the things that I had never really gotten the hang of, like many of the other magic things that my brothers had tried to teach me over the years. The new redstone machines Shadow had introduced me to were something I was much better at.

"Hey, is that where we are going?" asked Mirexal, briefly landing on a tree and pointing over his shoulder.

"Probably." I said "I went a slightly different way to get here than we are coming back, but I'll know when we get there."

A few moments later, I emerged into a clearing near the edge of the swamp, only a few marshy pools remaining before the landscape transitioned into the plains biome where my castle was located.

"So which place are we going to?" Mirexal asked, flying a few feet off the ground. "I don't want to go to the wrong place."

"That's unlikely." I said "Unless you travel for a couple hundred blocks past the plains, there isn't really any major settlements around here, Except for the Crafter village of course, but there isn't really a chance of confusing that for a castle."

"All the same, I will stay with you." said Mirexal "If I just show up at your castle while you are away, I'm not sure how that would work out. Probably badly for me."

We reached the castle after a few more minutes of travel, , the guards giving me a strange look when they saw Mirexal.

"Keep a low profile if you can." I said "Quite a few lords would react badly if they knew you were a Chaos lord."

"Okay." said Mirexal, tucking his wings under a flap in his shirt probably designed for that reason.

"Where are you guys heading?" asked Jump, poking his head out of a potted plant. "There is nothing fun to do here. Can I come with you? Please! Its so boring here!"

"Fine." I sighed. Jump would just tell the others and complain if I didn't let him come and I kind of wanted to bring him if only for the reason of "accidentally" leaving him in the End so I didn't have to deal with him anymore.

"Yes!" yelled Jump, climbing out of his plant hiding spot "So where are we going?"

"You will find out when we get there." I said. At least this way if we ran into someone else Jump would not be able to blurt out exactly what we were doing. I led our small group down into the basement of the castle, where passages snaked this way and that before converging on a sparsely furnished room. In its center, a portal sat, a three by three surface of speckled star streaked blackness connected the frames which bounded it on all sides.

"In you go." I said, ushering my companions to the raised platform that surrounded the portal.

"Is it safe?" asked Jump, looking dubiously into the portal.

"Course it is." said Mirexal, grabbing Jump's wrist and pulling him along as he jumped into the portal. I waited for a moment before lowering myself gingerly into the portal, feeling the strange tingling of the portal around my lower body. Releasing the portal frame, I fell down into the darkness completely, my body making the shift from my realm to Shadow's

I picked myself up from where the portal had dropped me. The area had been filled with wool blocks to cushion the arrival of anyone coming through my portal. The walls were a mixture of different shades of stained clay, one of the many blocks we had begun work but not yet allowed the Crafters access to. The uneven and irregular pattern of placement left no doubt in my mind that Ender had been the one to build the walls here. She had a habit of messing up block patterns and creating "patterns that were hard to follow just to annoy Shadow.

Standing on the edge of the doorway that connected this room to the rest of the building, I looked back into the room. Jump was laying flat on his face, still completely out of it from his trip through the portal. Mirexal on the other hand appeared to be quite well oriented for someone who had just traveled through a portal. It had taken me quite a few trips to stop passing out for days at a time after I used an End portal. Mirexal's Chaos power might account for some of his ease at traveling through portals, but it was unlikely that was the entire reason.

"Hey Mirexal." I asked "Have you used one of these portals before?"

"What?" asked Mirexal, looking up a bit confused. "Oh yeah, I have used a portal before. It wasn't exactly like this one, but it was pretty similar."

"Kay, just wondering." I said "I suppose we should probably bring Jump with us." I grabbed the smaller lord under his knees and shoulders, slinging him over my shoulder but making sure to keep a careful arm on his waist to prevent any sliding.

"Don't get left behind." I told Mirexal "This place is huge. I've been here like forty times or something and I still get lost all the time."

"Got it." said Mirexal, gazing at the interior of the castle down the corridor from where we stood. As we walked, I heard him murmur "Its so familiar. Like I've been here before, but its just different enough that it doesn't quite fit. Like when someone watches your house while you are away and they move things, so when you get back it feels... off."

When we rounded a corner, I saw Tanya standing and talking to several Endermen, or rather Aleeta standing there. I had finally gotten the hang of telling the Enderlords and their spirit bonded partners apart, mostly after lots of repetition and error. Being careful not to look at any of the Endermen, I walked over to the group.

"Hi Steve." said Aleeta, glancing at me.

"Hi Aleeta." I said "Do you happen to know where Shadow is?"

"Last I saw he was in the library." she said "Even if he's not in there now, Lani is, and she will know where he is." I grinned at the mention of Lani. She and Shadow had an implied relationship that pretty much everyone except them seemed to know about. It made a strange kind of sense, considering that Lani and Shadow's bonded lords, Mirage and Illusion were married.

"Thanks Aleeta." I said.

Upon reaching the library, I saw Lani asleep on one of the comfortable couches scattered through the room. This explained why Aleeta had been so sure that Lani would be in the library. Placing Jump on a vacant couch, I looked curiously down a few rows of bookshelves. I had never really been allowed to look through many of the books here, so maybe I could use looking for Shadow as an excuse to examine a few.

"What are you doing?" I heard someone ask. Turning around, I saw Shadow regarding my actions with an accusatory eye.

"Uh, well you see." I said nervously "I was looking for you and I kinda got distracted by all the books."

"Uh-huh." said Shadow, looking unconvinced.

"Anyway." I said hurriedly. "I came to look for you to tell you that I brought someone here to meet Illusion."

"Really, who?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I guess you will just have to come and see." I said

Shadow followed me back towards the open area where Mirexal, Lani and Jump waited, the latter two still asleep."

"Hey, I'm Mirexal, and I want to talk to Illusion." said Mirexal as we approached, freeing his wings from under his shirt.

"Uh, Why?" asked Shadow. As he did so, his eyes shifted from their usual green to a purple hue. As his eyes focused, Illusion gasped. "What.. But.. How? Your..." His eyes fluttered closed and he fell backwards, overcome by shock. About halfway through his fall, Illusion's eyes snapped open, revealing that Shadow was in control again.

"Owww." he groaned as he hit the floor. Reaching a hand back to rub where his head had hit the floor, he said "I really hate it when he does that. Especially when there isn't an apparent reason for it."

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly the reaction I expected either." said Mirexal, looking at Shadow with wide eyes.

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, considering leaving a review, they help me to know what I am doing right. Any questions for the characters can also be left in a review or PMed to me. I hope you all have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	4. Memories of War

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. No reviews this week, but maybe next time :). On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Mirexal's POV**

After Illusion had unexpectedly fainted, I wasn't sure if I should be pleased or embarrassed. I mean I had just walked in on his life after all that had happened and hadn't even thought of how he would take it. That was so unlike me. Oh wait, no it wasn't. Big brother had always said that I preferred to act first and think about what happened afterward if at all. Anyway, we had moved into what appeared to be a cross between a kitchen and a chemistry lab. A literal line separated the room in half, a sliding glass partition between the two keeping any contamination from the chemicals from reaching the food area.

"I see Tanya took over your kitchen again." said Steve, gaze roaming over the chemicals faintly visible through the screen.

"Yeah, well she hasn't bothered to set up a proper lab yet, so whenever she needs to do something she uses this." said Shadow, running his hand through his hair. "I made her put up the partition and stuff after we had a couple close calls. She's not used to her lab space being used as a food preparation area."

"So why did Illusion flip out like that when he saw you?" asked Steve, pouring himself a cup of juice and placing the remainder of the container back in the ice filled chest. "I mean I would not have brought you here if I knew that was going to happen."

"I didn't know that was going to happen." I said "But looking back I probably could have been a bit more...tactful."

*The only time you have ever been tactful was when asking for food.* sent Illusion weakly.

"Oh, so you have recovered." said Shadow "Good. Now if you would explain why you acted so crazy when you saw Mirexal."

*I was just surprised.* said Illusion *Its not every day that a friend you though was dead suddenly shows up. And I didn't mean to take over friend, it just kind of happened.*

"Well, I'm not dead, so yeah, awesome stuff!" I said grinning.

"SO wait I'm confused." said Steve. "How do you know Illusion? And does Shadow know him too?"

"No, I've met him even more recently that you." said Shadow "Not sure how Illusion knows him."

*We were friends.* said Illusion.

"What? But he's a Chaos lord!" exclaimed Shadow.

"Yeah, and?" I said, glaring at Shadow.

"Uh, nothing." said Shadow, his nervous gaze doing its best to avoid mine.

*This was before Chaos kind were considered to be enemies. And there was another member of our group. One you might be familiar with. Zeren.*

"What? But he's evil!" exclaimed Shadow "I mean I can't pass a judgment on all of Chaos kind, but I know Zeren. He is not the kind of lord I could see you ever associating with."

"He wasn't always this way." I sighed "Something happened, and after that he was never the same. He never told us what had happened, but when he returned, he had changed massively for the worse. His desire for power, nothing more than a passing fantasy before, became an uncontrollable desire. All of his actions were for the acquisition of power, and no matter how we tried to stop him, it only got worse."

*Eventually,* said Illusion *I had to take action. I had been training to become Enderlord leader, so when I brought warning of what was happening in the Chaos realm, I was listened to more than another might have been.*

"And what had happened?" asked Steve.

"Zeren had happened." said Tanya as she entered.

"Yeah." I said "He decided enough was enough with waiting for anyone to decide to give him power. He figured, well if I deserve power, then I can get it for myself. The result was disastrous to say the least. Two households were almost entirely obliterated, one being his own and the other being my family's." At this point, I dropped my cheerful mask, the effort of thinking of these painful memories making it too hard to maintain. I mean I am a naturally cheerful lord, but sometimes things get tough.. "Out of all the other households, the one he attacked had to be the one where his best friend lived. Or one of them anyway. Then he spreads the rumor that we actually attacked his household to legitimize his rise in power. All this destruction just to satisfy his selfish desire to gain power. Most of the lords who opposed him were killed, but in order to get my big brother on his side, he made an offer. If my brother swore to be loyal, I would be safe from his wrath. If he did not comply, not only would he be killed, he would have to watch what happened to me after I decided my fate. He gave up his happiness in order to save me." I sniffed, trying to hold back tears. I was usually able to keep calm enough whenever this topic was brought up, but this extended focus on it was bringing me to my limit. Noticing my discomfort even if no one else did, Illusion tactfully changed the subject.

*So Shadow when are you going to visit the Overworld.* he asked *You can't avoid your brothers forever by hiding in your realm.*

"Oh, but it rains in the Overworld;" groaned Shadow "And I really hate getting wet."

"Shadow, I don't live in a field." said Steve "Roofs are a thing, and they are usually pretty good at keeping things dry. Well except when Herobrine tries to fix them. Then they tend to end up full of holes."

"Okay, we will go." sighed Shadow "But you have to take Jump back with you. He's your problem not mine. I am not going to let you make him my problem."

"Well by that logic he shouldn't be my problem either." said Steve "He is Herobrine's lord, so he should be his problem."

"Well he is Herobrine's problem and Herobrine is your problem, so by the transitive property of problems he is your problem."

"Oh will you just stop." said Tanya "I heard something about leaving, so get out of here."

*Please,* said Aleeta *She hasn't slept in like five days, and I will take no responsibility for what she does.*

"Right, follow me." said Shadow, standing up quickly. He seemed to know as well as I did that a tired Tanya was not something that could be dealt with through normal means. Often the best methos to deal with it was to leave. Or hide. I seemed to remember that hiding worked pretty well as long as she did not have any tracking supplies.

We quickly followed after Shadow, and I urged Steve forward, knowing that if I did not he might not move quickly enough to escape Tanya's wrath.

"I will grab jump and meet you guys in the portal room." said Shadow "You remember the way, right Steve?"

"I think so." he said. I followed after him as he weaved through the passageways.

"So Steve," I asked "Why are there so few Enderlords in this realm? Are they all away or something?"

"No." said Steve "Well a few are. Ender's in the Overworlds and a few others are on another island, but other than that there are no other lords. Mirage says that some lords still remain in the void, but other than them and a few stragglers throughout distant realms, the Enderkind are pretty much wiped out."

"Oh." I said, not sure what else to say. The destruction of the Enderlord homeland had been partial my fault after all. My flight to Illusion's stronghold after being banished had no doubt been a factor in the attacks that followed soon after.

The corridor we traveled along led into a room with another portal. Shadow arrived a moment after we did, carrying Jump along with him.

"How do you travel through this place so fast?" asked Steve "Even with the number of times I have been here, I get turned around all the time."

"Well I do live here." said Shadow "I have to know how not to get lost. Also, I have a map." he waved the paper in question in front of Steve.

"Really?" said Steve, looking irritated. "All this time I can't find my way around this place when there is a map I could have used!"

"Well, yeah." said Shadow "You never asked if there was one. Pretty much everyone has one though. Except Notchie. He has a creepy way of knowing exactly where he is at all times. And I am not kidding here. Ender and Flare have blindfolded that guy, led him around this crazy place, and he will still be able to find his way to whatever place you want him to go. Anyway, next time you come here, remind me and I will get yo a copy."

"Got it.' said Steve "Oh yeah, I will make sure we end up in the right place. Usually the portal would just dump you at some world spawn."

We jumped through the portal, and I braced myself for the transition.

**Steve's POV**

We arrived back at my castle, and let's say that I never want to have to keep a group from going to the wrong place when teleporting again. I'm going to leave that stuff to the Enderkind. Slightly dazed, I flopped off my bed, noticing that the others seemed to have ended up in the right place, although they were lying on the floor. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that Cresilia was not in the room at the time, otherwise we might have ended up on top of her.

Scribbling a quick note telling them where I had gone and where they were, I dropped it onto Shadow's sleeping form before exiting the room ,stretching in an attempt to shake off the sleepy feeling that the effort of keeping the others traveling to the right place had brought. I was never very good at magic and the few things that I am actually able to do are either barely under my control and only occur during times of strong emotions, or took so much out of me that there wasn't really any practical use for them. This had always been a point of irritation for me, as my three older siblings seemed to be able to use and learn magic with almost no effort.

A loud crashing noise downstairs broke me from the thoughts that my sleep-like daze had brought upon me.

"What the heck is going on?" I demanded as I reached the top of the stairs. Looking down, to the bottom of them though, I froze at what I saw. Two forts had been constructed in the entryway to my castle, one of crystalline panels of light that seemed to phase in and out of existence, the other a much more practical rectangle of netherbrick topped with flames. The loud crashing noise from before repeated itself when Herobrine jumped up from inside the dark fortress, loosing an arrow at the other fort. The projectile slashed through the crystal panels, creating the splintering, crashing noise before the bolt was deflected by an almost invisible shield. Notch looked out from behind several cracked panes, glaring at Herobrine.

"Missed again." he taunted.

"What is going on here?" I yelled.

The two of them stood up before pointing at the other simultaneously and saying "He started it!"

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**A/N:I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, reviews are always appreciated. Even if you did not enjoy it I would love to hear feedback on what you think I could do to improve my writing. Any questions for the characters can also be PMed to me or left in a review. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	5. The Chaos Child

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. No reviews this week, but I know some of you have been reading. Hopefully next week's chapter will be up earlier since I have Friday off. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Herobrine's POV**

Notch and I looked at Steve, then at the mess we had made. I felt a bit guilty at the sight. Shattered light panels and bits of netherbrick lay strewn across Steve's formally spotless entryway. Even so, what I felt was not enough to claim responsibility for the events that I had been a part of, If anything Notch and I were equally at fault for what had happened.

"why do you guys always do this?" said Steve massaging his temples "I mean you guys are my brothers, the ones who are supposed to be setting an example, not the ones who should be told off for acting like little children." Another figure moved slowly towards the top of the stairs, eyes half lidded as he rubbed the sleep from them. His tousled gray hair was streaked through with the same bright magenta that was so prominent on every feather.

"Uhh, whats going on?" he asked, stretching both his arms and wings luxuriously.

"Nothing important Mirexal." said Steve "Just a family problem."

"Didn't you say your lady friend, uh Cresilia, was watching them?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Steve, slowly turning to look at us again, slight suspicion showing. "Where exactly is Cresilia?"

"She went out." said Notch, shoving aside remnants of his shattered fort, panels returning to normal light at his touch. "Said the Crafters were up to something again and she had to deal with them."

"Maybe it has something to to do with those guys." said Mirexal "You know the ones I was telling you about who told me where Shadow was."

"Well I am going to find out what is going on." said Steve "But you two are going to stay here and clean up this mess."

"Fine." I muttered, Notch also voicing his reluctant agreement.

"And if I come back." said Steve "And find that you have not cleaned up or you have made another mess, you will not be pleased with the consequences."

**Izra's POV**

I was back in the Nether after what Sallen had told us and I wanted nothing more than to lock myself in some room to try to process it. I had known that the majority of the chaos lords were a violent group who had few morals, but I had never imagined the level of treachery that they were capable of. And to help a friend, I had allied myself with these lords, taken their power as part of myself and pretty much become one of them. Slowly trudging down the hallway, I tried to fight off the rising feeling of chaos within me. In addition to the thoughts of disgust and horror that Sallen's revelations had instilled within me, each new piece of information had increased the strength of the chaos in me. It was as if it was the chaos' way of telling me this was its true nature, and no matter how much I tried to fight it, there could be no denying what I would become. The hall narrowed and my pace increased ever so slightly,, the desire to be somewhere where I could safely dwell upon my feelings overriding even the dark power of the chaos.

"Israphel." The sudden sound of my chaos name sent me turning towards its source, regardless of any danger that doing so might pose. The sight before my eyes made me wish that I had traveled more quickly to my room. Milota stood in the narrow corridor behind me, the confined space only serving to make her more imposing. "I was wondering if you would care to watch Aryto." Aryto was Milota and Zeren's child, and from Milota's tone her words were a command rather than a choice. I had met the child several times and he acted more like Notchie than anyone else, his actions nothing like those that both his parents were capable of. Milota seemed eager to dump him on any other lord that was available, having no desire to deal with a child who showed no interest in dark plans. "Maybe you can teach that brat how to do something useful." she said "Honestly it seems to be a trend with Zeren's children that they are not good at much of anything. Before I thought it was just Teloxen since he was a half-breed and all, but it seems that was not the case."

"I thought you liked Zeren." I muttered.

"What was that?" she asked, eyes flashing in a way that suggested that it would be bad for my health to continue pursuing this topic.

"Uh, nothing." I said, hoping that she would not pursue the matter. To discourage that, I asked "So where is Aryto anyway?"

"Around somewhere." said Milota, waving her hand absentmindedly. "He's with Rayko I think."

Sighing at how little Milota seemed to be interested in taking care of her child, I turned and walked away, wondering where Rayko was likely to have taken Aryto. After checking a few places that seemed obvious like the lunch hall and his room, I decided to leave finding Rayko for later and go see Sallen instead. Rayko would no doubt watch Aryto until someone came to fetch him, so there was not really a problem with leaving the two of them together.

Upon reaching Sallen's lab, I found that this dilemma had been resolved. Aryto sat in a corner, scribbling lazily on a scrap of paper. Sallen held a finger to his lips as I entered, gesturing to where Rayko sat sprawled across one of Sallen's empty lab stations, wings outstretched so that the lowermost feathers nearly brushed the floor. Disheveled blond hair stretched across the surface, pooling like water at the limits of its length.

"You here to get Aryto?" asked Sallen, shortening the distance between us to a handful of feet.

Wordlessly I nodded, worried that a careless sound might awaken Rayko.

"Then by all means take him." said Sallen "I will tell Rayko where he has gone when he wakes up. It has been a long time since he had a decent sleep, and I don't want to be the one who wakes him up."

"Why can't he sleep?" I blurted out, all rational senses telling me that it was none of my concern and to get on with watching Aryto, but the part of me that wanted to know overwhelmed these more reasonable notions, allowing my inquiry free reign.

"He still blames himself." said Sallen, a sad half-smile passing over his lips as his eyes stared into the distance "He feels that if he had not told Zeren what he had seen the night Teloxen was deemed a traitor, then no harm would have come to him. He blames himself even though he had no way of knowing what was going to occur as a result." realizing what he had said, Sallen stared at me for a moment before saying "And I trust you know what would happen if Zeren or another were to discover how Rayko felt about this. He would be deemed an impure lord and cast out or killed."

Flinching slightly at Sallen's intense gaze, I did my best to block out the thought that he was watching me as I helped Aryto to collect his things and walk down to one of the spare rooms.

"Okay." I said, addressing the young child "Time to teach you how to fight. Maybe then Milota will think you have some use."

"Don't wana fight." said Aryto, his neutral expression turning into a pout. "I wana drwaw." His mispronounced words reminded me how young he really was. Sallen had assured me that Aryto's rapid development was perfectly normal for a Chaos lord child, and that after a time it would slow exponentially. Even so it still struck me as strange that a species with such a long lifespan grew up so quickly. Having grown up with Creepers and later Crafters, I had grown used to beings with a steady growth pattern.

I had also been warned by multiple lords that while Aryto was little, any power that he developed would be extremely powerful but he would have almost no control over them. As he grew older, he would exchange some of that power for the ability to control when and how he sued his powers. The only chaos thing I had ever seen Aryto do was random scribbles on a page, as I kind of doubted that was anything more than a sign that he was still a child.

I glanced towards the rooms several entryways to see if anyone was coming before saying "Okay, we can draw,. But only for a little while, and if anyone comes, you have to tell them we were practicing okay?"

"Yay!" said Aryto, jumping up and hugging my legs, the only part of me that he could reach. I plopped down next to his drawing supplies, and he came over, arranging his legs in the neat criss-cross pattern that he liked.

We had only been working a short time when I sensed Zeren coming.

"Okay." I said, pulling Aryto to his feet. "Your father is coming, so we have to practice now."

Aryto nodded, crossing his arms in front of himself, palms out to ward off attack. "I'm ready." he said, voice shaky.

Looking at his stance critically I said "Well this is a good form fro warding off basic physical attacks, but we are training to fight lords. I will not do anything against their attacks. Can use any magic?"

"I can try." he said nervously.

"Okay" I warned "I am going to throw a projectile at you, block it in whatever way you can." I waited until Aryto nodded before calling on my Chaos magic, forming a projectile over one hand. Once it had reached a satisfactory size, I threw it towards him. Aryto's eyes opened wide and he tried to dodge out of the way, but I guided the projectile to follow him. This was not a test of if he could get out of the way, it was testing if he could block magic. I chased him around with it for a while, his evasions growing slower as time passed, each strike of the projectile growing closer to him. When the projectile at last reached striking distance, rather than shying away Aryto turned towards it, positioning his hands as if to catch it. I felt my control over the projectile slip as it drew closer to Aryto, another controlling its path in my stead. Aryto guided the projectile back towards me, a look of unwavering concentration on his face. Control of the object returned to me as it drew near, and for a while we continued this cycle, exchanging control of the projectile.

The sudden sound of a door opening on an upper platform distracted me, preventing me from returning the projectile. As the projectile smashed into my chest, I felt a wave of anger shoot through me, fueled by the growing power of chaos. How dare this creature of such insignificance hurt one so powerful as me. A wave of chaos and anger drew me into the darkness, blinding me to the consequences of the actions I carried out. The last thing I glimpsed before descending into the dark haze of chaos was Zeren standing on the balcony overlooking the room, regarding the scene below him with a dark curiosity.

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, please consider leaving a review, they really do help me to assess how much you guys actually like reading this. Questions for the characters can also be left in a review or PM'ed to me. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	6. Horrors of Chaos

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. No reviews again this week, but I did get a follow so that's something. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Izra's POV**

The dazzling glare of redstone lighting speared into my sensitive eyes when I resurfaced from the dark haze that had overcome me. Squeezing my eyes tightly closed to protect them from the harsh glare, I stretched out my limbs, disoriented when I felt not the hard surface I had expected, but rather a slightly springy surface that dropped away at the edge of my reach. This feeling was surprising enough for me to force my eyes open regardless of the blinding light that overwhelmed them. Squinting into the brightness, I saw the hazy outline of a figure standing not far from where I lay. As my eyes adjusted to the light, the figure became more solid and defined. After several minutes of blinking at the glare, the figure resolved itself into a recognizable from, the gray-green color of its wings leaving only one possible identity.

"Dexos," I murmured "What happened?"

Looking up from whatever he was doing, Dexos looked over me once before muttering to himself "So this one is awake at last. The others must be told of this." Ignoring my question, Dexos walked from the room, his gray-green shirt and brown tinted pants allowing him to fade into the dim hallway. I struggled with figuring out why Dexos was taking interest in my condition. Dexos had always made it clear that he was unwaveringly loyal to Zeren, and since it was at least fairly well known that I allied with Sallen, and as a general rule members of either alliance did not pay much attention to members of the other side except when conflict was involved.

A section of wall to my left shimmered, then seemed to peel away from the rest of the structure. I watched it with guarded curiosity, figuring that I might as well know something about what it was before it reached me. To be honest, I didn't know if I could even move at this point, let alone deal with a threat, if that was what the strange moving thing turned out to be.

The strange moving things split down the middle along a single straight seam. When it fell away, suddenly thrown back by the lord it concealed, it revealed Teloxen's slight figure. Looped over his shoulders as it now was, I recognized it as a cloak that Sallen had designed for Teloxen after his wings had been mangled. Before that time Teloxen had been able to shift the color of his wings to a general approximation of his surroundings. After Zeren had shredded his wings, the ability had been pretty much unusable. Whenever he tried to match something, parts of his wings would respond, but the damaged sections would either flicker through several random colors or refuse to change at all. As a result of this, Sallen had designed a cloak for him that could mimic this ability. None of the other chaos lords seemed to have this ability, so I figured that this strange ability had to come from his mix of Enderlord and Chaos lord genetics.

"What is going on?" I murmured, hoping that Teloxen would answer the question Dexos had not.

Teloxen bit his lip, clearly uncomfortable with discussing the topic. "What do you remember?" he asked hesitantly, repeating those words that every chaos lord seemed to ask when something went wrong.

Knowing that I would not be told anything until I answered the question, I said "I remember taking Aryto to train, then Zeren came in and I don't remember what happened after that." Looking at Teloxen's wary expression I said "from how you're acting I'm guessing this is not one of my usual blackouts."

"You could say that." said Teloxen sighing "When Zeren showed up, Aryto hit you with some type of object that the distraction prevented you from blocking. This made you snap, and you did some things that you most likely would not have done had you been thinking rationally."

"Just give it to me straight." I said, irritated by how Teloxen seemed to be dodging around some big thing that happened while I was blacked out.

Teloxen took a deep breath before saying "Aryto is dead. And...and you killed him."

Teloxen's words sunk in and I froze, unsure if this was real or some terrible dream brought about by chaos power. The pain that stabbed through me as I forced my fingernails into my palm made me believe Teloxen't words. That the terrible words he had spoken did indeed hold truth.

"How?" I gasped, trying to hold back half formed tears "How did it happen? I mean what... Do you know how.."

"How you did it?" said Teloxen, finishing the thought I could not voice "No idea. Zeren saw it happen and brought you here after. I've had to sneak around quite a bit to even figure out what I know now."

"How are the others taking it." I whispered, the low tone barely allowing me to keep in the tears I wished to save until I was alone.

"Not well." sighed Teloxen "We had to lock Rayko in Sallen's lab to keep him from coming after you, and I don't think Sallen's much better. He's a bit more rational though, so I don't think he will be after you."

Footsteps in the corridor caused Teloxen to jump, eyes darting back and forth, looking for some escape.

"I have to go." he whispered "Be careful. I don't know how Zeren's lords will respond to this." He pulled the cloak over his head, the seam sealing itself once more so that the illusion was complete. The shimmer slipped down the side passage that joined with the room, quickly fading from my sight. Once he was gone, I found that it was much harder to hold back the emotions I had bottled up inside me. The conversation may have threatened to release them, but now, all alone there was nothing to distract me from the thoughts that whispered through my mind. I had killed an innocent child. What monster was I who would do such a thing, end such a life even if I was under chaos power's influence.

The sound of steps pausing just outside the room brought me the resolve I needed to suppress these feelings for at least a short time. Whoever it was, they would not have any sympathy for a weeping lord. Chaos king did not approve of such acts, feeling that these types of acts should not provoke sadness, but rather be used to acquire power.

The footsteps resumed, and a female lord with blue-black wings entered the room. She wore a low cut midnight blue dress that clung to her slim frame, its black trim making a sharp contrast to her light skin. Dark hair the color of midnight framed her face, piercing amethyst eyes boring into me. A tiara made or strange blue tinted obsidian circled her head, holding back her hair. She was a lord I had met only once or twice and who I usual y tried to avoid due to her alliance with Milota. Her name was Vakara, Chaos lady of the night.

"My lady requests that you follow me." she said "And my lady does not like to be kept waiting."

Taking the hint, I pushed back the thin wool blanket that covered me and swung my legs over the side of the bed, a dull ache spreading through my chest as I moved. Apparently whatever had hit me had caused more damage than had been hinted at. Gritting my teeth, I stood, doing my best to hold in my whimpers of pain. I followed Vakara down the hallway, quickly growing lost as I was directed along unfamiliar passages.

We emerged out into a room about twice as wide as any of the corridors but still positively cramped compared to the size of some of the rooms in the fortress. Milota stood in the doorway of the room, staring out into Zeren's throne room. When I saw her, it occurred to me that I had not even considered how she would react to the news that I had killed her child. Zeren was usually the one to be feared but he might not be the greatest danger in this situation. She turned and caught sight of me and Vakara.

"Good, you have brought him." she said "Zeren is ready fro him now. Follow me." She led us into Zeren's throne room where he saw upon the throne.

"So he is finally awake." said Zeren, speaking to Milota but making it clear that I was the one he observed "And are you aware of what trouble you have caused?" he asked me, voice much calmer than I had expected. Aware that Teloxen had probably not been supposed to tell me what had happened, I decided to take the cautious approach and act ignorant to my actions.

"No." I said "What happened?"

"You were training with Aryto and he was killed." said Zeren "A most tragic happening of course, but it presents me with a more pressing problem."

"What?" I gasped, more surprise by the fact that Zeren seemed to have almost no concern about what had happened to Aryto rather than the news of the act itself, although the emotions did resurface at the reminder.

"Yes, yes its all very sad." said Zeren dismissively "But it leaves me with the problem that once again I am without an heir, which seems to happen on a regular basis for some reason."

"I wonder why." sighed Milota, rolling her eyes "I very much doubt that Aryto would have been a very good Chaos lord anyway. Too easily distracted and influenced, certainly not a very good choice for a leader."

"Yes, well as least we will not have to deal with that problem now." said Zeren.

"So why am I here?" I asked, completely put off by how they were reacting. I had thought that I had been brought here to be punished, but that did not fit with how they were acting towards me.

"Well, Aryto's death as I have said leaves an unfilled position in my household." said Zeren "I have seen your chaos power and would like to request that you begin training to become my heir. What is your answer to this?" Zeren's request stunned me. I had been the one to kill his child and all he had gotten out of that experience was that I was a better choice for heir than the dead so n who had been slain at my hands. Even so, a part of me felt a strong affinity for Zeren's request. The chaos part of me, which had grown much stronger since my last blackout whispered treacherous thoughts to me

_Your alliance never really had a chance_ it whispered _Wouldn't it be better to side now with the winners? Its just who you are anyway, and haven't you always been told to follow your true nature? _This last statement made me think. It was true that I had always been told to follow my true self, and it did make sense that since I was now chaos kind at least in part, it would be beneficial to embrace this part of me. And it would go at least some way towards appeasing Zeren in case he later found himself opposed to what I had done.

"Alright." I said, looking Zeren in the eye "I'll do it."

"Excellent." said Zeren, a small dark glint I could not place bright in his eyes.

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**A/N: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, please leave a review it really does help me to know if you guys like what I write. Questions for the characters can also be PMed to me or left in a review. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	7. Mirexal's Power

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. I would like to thank ****dalmationblack**** for reviewing this week. Oc's in the chapter are Dalm, which belongs to dalmationblack and Dark and E, who belong to CreepyParadox.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Steve's POV**

"So what exactly happened her?" I demanded, staring at the large mob of Crafters throwing insults and worse at several figures restrained within a ring of iron bars, the gaps of which were just wide enough to allow entry to many of the objects thrown by the crowd.

"Apparently the Crafters are not too pleased with the mobs lately, I mean more than usual, and they are taking it out on some of the lords they found." Said Cresilia, walking over from a heated conversation with several Crafters near the edge of the fray. "They won't listen to me though. Say I'm a traitor to the kind and all that. Course I didn't tell them I was lady of Creepers obviously or I would be in the same position as the other lords."

"Who exactly are they throwing at?"asked Mirexal, standing on tiptoe to try to see over the crowd.

"Steve who exactly is this?" asked Cresilia, her eyes glancing over Mirexal in confusion. I could see where she was coming from with this question. Mirexal certainly was a strange traveling companion, especially given his current attire. I had never quite figured out why Mirexal wore shorts and flip-flops if he had been in the Nether, or pretty much any other realm for that matter. It did not seem to be practical in any way, doing nothing to repel harm.

"He's Mirexal, and yeah, he's a Chaos lord, don't ask, he's a good guy. Hey Mirexal, what are you lord of anyway?" I said, stopping mid sentence to question Mirexal.

"Dimension bending." sighed Mirexal "Which sounds really boring and dull doesn't it."

"A bit." said Cresilia, still not taking her eyes from him. Taking a step closer to me, she whispered "Are you sure we can trust him? He is still a Chaos lord even if he says he is on our side."

"You know I can still hear you." said Mirexal, twisting several strands of grass together in an intricate pattern.

Ignoring him in order to placate Cresilia, I said "He says he was banished and I haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise. Anyway, Shadow seemed to think it was fine, and he and Illusion have met more Chaos lords than us."

"Well okay." said Cresilia, still not looking completely convinced.

"So which lords do they have locked in there?" I asked, trying to distract her from the topic of Chaos lords.

"One of the lords of skeletons." said Cresilia "Dalm I think, along with those two guys who came looking for Ender while her group was in the Aether."

"Dark and E." said Mirexal, still absentmindedly fiddling with the grass. Cresilia and I looked at each other, then back to Mirexal.

"How the heck do you know that?" she asked.

"I told you" said Mirexal, finally looking at us in irritation "Or I told Steve at least. They are the ones who told me you guys knew Shadow."

"Oh yeah." I murmured. I hated it when I did not remember this type of thing, especially when it was something important.

"Okay, whatever." said Cresilia, glaring at me like I should have told her. I flinched at her look, uncomfortable partially because she was probably right.

"Hate to interrupt your one sided glare fight." said Mirexal causally "But those Crafters sure are not getting any happier. You want me to deal with them? I can do it crazy or subtle if you'd like."

"Subtle please." I said "The Crafters are worked up enough already. Any more so and they'll come and riot around my castle again."

"Kay." said Mirexal, glancing towards the iron prison once more. With a quick snap of his fingers a shimmering magenta ring appeared on the side of a nearby tree. His second snap did not seem to do anything until a moment later when the three who had been trapped slid out of the portal.

"How did you do that?" I gasped, glancing between him and the former captives.

"What did you think dimension bending meant?" said Mirexal, startled by the shock in my tone. "Its how I got out of the Chaos realm when I was banished."

"Steve is just easily surprised." said Cresilia, waving off my actions. Inwardly I was grateful for this. I did not really wish to have to come up with another reason why Mirexal's actions had surprised me. The truth of it was that when Mirexal had linked the portal on the tree to what I supposed to be another within the iron cage, I had felt a strange twisting within me. The only thing I could think of to explain this was that what Mirexal had done had physically affected me since I was so closely linked with the realm.

With another snap of his fingers the two portals Mirexal had created vanished, the strange feeling within me making itself known once more.

"Warn me before you do that again." I gasped, trying to shake off the remnants of the clinging feeling.

"Sure." said Mirexal, seemingly amused by the position I had been put in. Although Mirexal seemed to be amused by pretty much everything so that was not really a surprise.

"Are you okay?" Cresilia asked the three who had come through the portal.

"I've been better." said E, wiping bits of whatever had been thrown at them off his shirtless upper body, revealing the numerous tattoos that covered it "At least the nether was not humiliating, well most of the time anyway." Herobrine had told me that E was a Crafter who had taken up necromancy. He had been raised by a witch since a young age before he traveled to the Nether in order to receive training. Demented had apparently trained him and as a sign of unity with his teacher, he wore the top section of a mask similar to Demented's. I still knew little about Dark besides what Ender had told me. I glanced at the black haired bat hybrid, wondering what history he had.

The third person however was a lord I was unfortunately well acquainted with. I say unfortunately because whenever we met it always seemed to be because his skeletons had done something destructive. It may have been an accident, but it still was annoying. Dalm was a Crafter with brown hair and eyes of the same color, though they were covered by black sunglasses at this point. His cloths consisted of blue shorts and a long sleeved red shirt with several images of diamonds on it, over top of which hung a simple gold medallion with a diamond secured to it.

"So how did you get stuck in there?" I asked, doing my best to sound civil.

"Oh just the usual." he said breezily "Crafters being the usual pain that they are. Course you would know all about that Stevie."

"What have I told you," I asked "About calling me Stevie?" I did my best to calm my tone but touches of the anger that seethed within me escaped into it.

"Probably that I can't." he said smirking "Like so many other things that you tell me."

Cresilia, seeing the growing tension between us, stepped forward. "Hey, you are free now." she said "Now either get back to where ever your skeleton base is, or if you need somewhere to stay, you can stay at the creeper bunker. Dark and E, the same offer is there for you guys."

"Aww, why can't I stay at your place." said Dalm looking sad.

"You don't get along with Steve or Demented, I am hardly going to invite you to a place where there is a chance you would spend an extended amount of time with either of them."  
"Fine." he grumbled.

"Lets go." I sighed. The strange feeling I had felt earlier had returned, although much weaker than before. I thought back to when I had met Mirexal and realized that this feeling had begun then. At the time I had just thought it was nervousness at what Mirexal might do if he turned out not to be trustworthy, but now I realized that he was actually the source of this strange feeling.

*You can feel it, can't you.* I heard someone send. Turning towards where I felt the sending most strongly emanating, I saw Mirexal looking at me, an expression of questioning directed towards me. His sending was similar to Shadow's but still tinged with that same strange feeling that filled me.

_Yes_ I sent back _I feel something. It has been troubling me for a while now. Do you know what causes it?_

*Somewhat,* sent Mirexal *Illusion always said he experienced a similar thing after he look up leadership of the Enderkind and responsibility for the realm. His idea was that since my powers deal with manipulation of realms, any lord who had a connection to one felt strange fluctuations in their magic when I am around, and strong waves of the same feeling when I actually use my powers. It always seemed that the effects were less over large distances, like if Illusion was dealing with something else when I had to use my powers. The strangest things happened when I had to link realms to other realms though, especially the Chaos realm. I had to link the realms for one reason or another, I don't really remember what it was, and when I did, Illusion was connected to the magic of the Chaos lord in charge at the time, Zeren.*

_That does not sound pleasant_ I sent, shuddering at the thought of that lord being linked in any way to me. Notch had told me how he had acted when they met in the Aether as a part of the conflict and what I had heard made me want to never look at the lord let alone come into contact with him.

*It was not.* said Mirexal *Illusion passed out from it for quite a while. Only after we were able to remove the Chaos that had flowed into him through the link did he wake up.*

"You guys just going to stand there all day?" asked Cresilia.

"No, we're coming." I sighed.

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**A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, please consider leaving a review. Now for questions for the characters.**

**From dalmationblack to Aryto: ****Aren't you a god? How can you die? **

**Aryto: I am not a god, I am a Chaos lord, so as a result of this I am able to die or be killed.**

**Any questions for the characters that you may have can be PM'ed to me or left in a review. I hope you have a great day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	8. Teloxen's Way

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, I know I am having a wonderful time writing it. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Teloxen's POV**

"I can't believe he did this!" shouted Rayko stalking back and forth, his wings puffed out with their feathers ruffled from his rage at the situations we had been placed in. Sallen and I watched him, not sure as to what the best course of actions would be in this situation. So far we had managed to keep any of the other lords from discovering any of our opinion on Zeren's appointment of Israphel as his heir, which was quite quite an accomplishment considering what Rayko had wanted to do to Israphel when he found out what had happened to Aryto. Sallen and I suspected that Izra had finally snapped for one reason or another during that practice session with Aryto, and like it or not we were going to have to accept the fact that he was lost to us. He had truly become Israphel, so in respect to what he had once been I no longer called him by his original name. He was now Israphel, chaos the fallen.

Turning my attention back to Rayko, I concealed a grin at the fact that he was still ranting about Israphel. No matter how serious a situation was, Rayko's over exaggerated reactions to things always made everything seem a little less bleak. It was almost like he was complaining about some day to day event rather than something that would be considered an unforgivable crime in other realms. What it really put into perspective was the sheer horror of things that were considered socially acceptable in Chaos kind civilization, how broken the society of my people was that they saw the death of a child as just another opportunity to expand their power. It was times like this when I really wished that Tanya had managed to get me away from Zeren when I was a child. I am sure that the Enderlords had their problems too, but I doubt that they where anywhere near as bad as the ones of Chaos kind.

*You okay?* sent Sallen curiously, presumably refraining from speaking aloud in order to keep Rayko calm or at least prevent him from growing any more enraged. He had seen Aryto as family more than almost any other lord, even those who were actually related to Aryto and any mentions of topics relating to the dead child lord quickly brought him to a state somewhere between blazing furry and uncontrollable sobbing. Needless to say it was not something I had any desire to see again, so Sallen's discretion was appreciated.

_Yeah, I guess_ I sent_ I am still trying to get over what Israphel did though. I could see how what happened to Aryto could happen as a result of an accident, but there is no excusing what he did afterwards. His decision to join Zeren is all on him._

_ *_I know_*_ sent Sallen *Part of him may be trying to rationalize it as a form of consolation for what he did, but I am sure the true basis for this decision is the desire of the Chaos within him to obtain more power in any way and at any cost. What worries me is what he may do if pressed for information about our alliance. We were not exactly secretive around him and if Zeren thinks to ask about it I doubt that Israphel would withhold much if any of what he knows. After all, Zeren is the one training him to lead, and as I am sure you know, one of his favorite lessons to teach time and time again is the importance of using all information, no matter how insignificant it seems, to further your progress through an organization's ranks.*

_We will have to change our operations base._ I sent _He knows where our old one is, and I am sure he will use that to his advantage. If he tells Zeren how you have been helping me and Rayko, what will happen to you? He is not a lord I have ever known to be merciful or kind, even to his own blood relatives._

*I should be okay.* sent Sallen, flashing me a quick grin. *Zeren may think that he knows all my tricks, but he is sadly mistaken. I have been a Chaos lord quite a bit longer than he has and some arts were lost to the kind long before he came to power. I have worked to rediscover some of these, but of course I did not share this fact or what I discovered with him. When a lord blackmails you into working for them by using your little brother as a bargaining chip you tend not to tell them every little detail of what you are doing.*

_Every lord should have secrets._ I sent _At least that's what Chaos kind has taught me._

*Strangely enough secrets seemed to be looked upon as ill advised in many other realms.* sent Sallen *Chaos kind may have the wrong reason behind it, but they are correct in saying that some secrets need to be kept and can even be beneficial.*

_Which realms see secrets as wrongdoings?_ I asked, surprised that something I had always considered to be an acceptable and nonviolent method of lessening negative feelings inside myself was seen as a wrongdoing in other realms. Perhaps I was more like the other members of the Chaos kind that I had previously believed.

*Well it's not so much that they see having secrets as wrong as that they feel they strain relationships between people and nations. Or so I have been led to believe.*

_Oh_ I sent, pondering what he had said. I could defiantly see how certain secrets could defiantly be used to the advantage of one side or another in a conflict. But some things if known caused more harm than good. _Some secrets should be kept. _I thought to myself _But only if a lord or nation can deal with and take responsibility __for whatever fallout results should the secret somehow be revealed._

*Zeren sure was wrong when he said that you would make a poor leader.* Sent Sallen, his sending tinged with amusement. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I realized that I had accidentally allowed him to view my supposedly secret thoughts.

_How much of that did you see? _I asked hesitantly, struggling to remover the obviously apparent embarrassment from my sending.

*Enough.* sent Sallen *But I am not going to be spreading it around. That would be bad for all of the members of our alliance. In all seriousness though, I think that you would have been a very successful leader for Chaos kind. Zeren had no idea what he was talking about when he said that you did not have what it takes to lead. If anything, he is the one who is not fit to lead anyone, let alone a whole realms. Getting back to our current problem, I think I know how to kill two mobs with one arrow.*

_What is your idea?_ I asked, intrigued.

*Well Rayko is crazy right now to put it lightly, and should he come into contact with another chaos lord outside of our alliance, I dread to think of the consequences of his actions. So what I propose is that we send him to the Overworld to tell the lords there, all in secret of course, about what happened here. The lords of the upper realms will no doubt be pleased to receive news, even if it tells of negative things, and it will get Rayko somewhere where there is a much smaller chance of discovering a Chaos lord he feels ill disposed towards.*

_That is not a bad idea_ I sent after a moments thought _But how do you know how the lords of the upper realms will react to him? After all, they have a thing against Chaos kind in general and I very much doubt that they stop to ask questions before they take out any member of our kind._

*Well Rayko at least has some past experience in the upper realms.* sent Sallen *After all he was the one who took Izra's prophecy to them. And all things considered that actually went pretty well, so some of the lords may actually be familiar with him, making this a better opportunity.*

_Alright, you have convinced me. _I sent _Now the hard part. Convincing him._

It actually was not as difficult as I had originally anticipated to convince Rayko to take news of the recent events to the other realms. He made it clear that he understood that it was a good idea for him to have some time away from the other Chaos lords. In fact, he seemed visibly relieved when we suggested it, saying that he had needed an excuse to get away from all the crazy dealings around here and see the sky again. His words stirred feelings that I had long since been trying to suppress, mostly out of habit from my time as Zeren's student, but also as of late as a way to cope with being a virtual prisoner in this realm. I could defiantly understand even now after the months I had spent here why Herobrine had always been so desperate to escape from it. Even the void, the realm the Chaos kind called it's home had some semblance of a sky. But here in this star-forsaken realm there was only the confining roof of gooey, oozing netherrack, holding within it's sweltering interior a wasteland bathed in eternal half light. It was a desolate place, crudely constructed by an unpracticed hand. And yet beyond all this I always saw another side of what was present. The caring lord who made the creatures able to survive in this seemingly uninhabitable place, the hope for equality among a family its creation had provided, the sacrifice of a lord who would protect what he had made and stand up for what he believed was right even at the cost of his freedom. I never was sure why I saw these things, nor had I ever told another lord about them. Perhaps it was something to do with my powers as they regard to balance, perhaps it was something entirely different. But what I saw kept me going though all I had to live through. In every realm I saw this, in every place and even in every one. In this realm at least, Zeren had always focused on upon the negative aspects and how we must break free from it in order to conquer other realms with greater worth. He was blind to the good things that this realm had brought. For though they had been small, they had made a difference.

_And that is what Zeren can never understand._ I thought _That all things contain both good and evil and what one views one way may be seen differently by another. Chaos is not an evil force unless we treat it as one. Anything that is cast __aside and feared will strike back at those who wronged it, hoping that it can set things right. But evil only brings more evil, acts done by lords who would never do such things under relaxed circumstances but who under the pressure of conflict warp into terrifying creatures more foul than they oppose. It is only through accepting the wrongdoings of others and not acting upon them with wrongdoing __of our own that the realms can find balance and peace is achievable._

"So what now?" asked Sallen, breaking me free from the swirling maelstrom of my thoughts.

"I guess all we can really do is wait." I sighed "Wait and see if Israphel betrays all our secrets to Zeren or if we are safe from that little disaster for a while longer."

"We could always just run." said Sallen, leaning back over the back of the bench where he sat. "Run away from this accursed place and never come back. I've thought about it before, but I never have."

"No, we have to try to stop this." I said "And we won't accomplish that by running away from our problems."

"Well they are not exactly just our problems." said Sallen "But I see your point. I guess we will just have to go along with whatever happens."

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**A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, please consider leaving a review. Questions for the characters can also be left in a review or PM'ed to me. I hope you have a good day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	9. Israphel's Confrontation

**A/N; Hey, Ender here. I would really like it if you guys could tell me what you do and don't like about the story so far, it really motivates me to hear from you. On with the chapter**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft.**

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**Israphel's POV**

I apprehensively stood outside the door to where our alliance met, not sure what kind of welcome would await me within. It would have been foolish for me to think that they had not heard of my choice, but a part of me wished that they had not. It would be nice if I had a chance to explain myself for once before I was condemned for it. I stepped forward to push open the door, then paused.

_How should I do this?_ I wondered, an uneasy feeling of uncertainty settling in my chest._ I do not want this to seem like I am leading a raid on them or anything along those lines._ Reaching out, I placed my hand flat against the door for a moment before knocking lightly against it. After a moment of no response, I knocked again, this time a bit harder than before.

"Go away." someone said from within, too muffled by the door to be identifiable. "We have no desire to deal with a lord who chooses to break an alliance just to advance his power."

"Just let me explain" I said, trying to push down the rising fury growing within me. How dare they refuse to allow me access to an area I had once called my own. They had no right to keep me from doing anything I wished to do. I was the second most powerful chaos lord, surpassed only by Zeren, and no was not an answer I was willing to accept.

"What is there to explain?" the voice said from within "You broke an alliance and that's all there is to it."

"You're wrong!" I shouted, stepping forward and slamming into the door. A spiderweb of cracks shot through it, shards flaking off from the tough wood. With another push the door splintered, sending half crushed chunks of wood scattering across the floor in a shower of splinters, revealing the lord who had spoken.

"How is this serving to prove that you have not betrayed anyone?" asked Sallen, eyes looking quizzically at the shards of the door "The door never did anything to you, or at least not that I am aware of." His seemingly uncaring attitude enraged me. How could he act so casually in my presence. He should bow to my power not treat me as a naughty child, to be scolded and taught the error of his ways. Snarling I lept forward, intent on showing this, this disrespectful, near-traitorous lord who he was really dealing with.

"Are we really going to do this?" sighed Sallen, sidestepping my charge. What he was not expecting was the tendril of chaos sand that wrapped around his ankle, throwing him off balance. Smirking in triumph, I gestured and several more tendrils wrapped around him, pinning him against the wall. A delicious look of fear manifested itself on Sallen's face.

"What, how?" he managed to gasp before a tendril wrapped around his neck, cutting off most of his air.

"I've gotten stronger." I said "Being Zeren's heir has benefits, and the best training available is one of them." The fearful look on Sallen's face flickered to something else for a moment, but it was enough to tip me off that something was up. The look that had crossed his features had almost made it seem like he was looking at something. Or maybe someone.

As this thought occurred to me I turned, nearly running into the hand of the lord behind me. I stopped just in time to avoid it, a fraction of a block separating it from my face. The lines that creased it changed from clear to blurry and back as its slight movements moved it in and out of where I could see clearly.

"You wouldn't do it." I said to Teloxen. His broken wings making him easily identifiable even in the dim half-light that saturated the room.

"Don't make me find out." he hissed, shoving his hand closer, so close that I had to cross my eyes to make any sense of it. A slight glow came from it, the telltale glow that meant Teloxen was preparing to use his powers.

"Fine, fine." I said, holding my hands palms out, fingers pointing towards the ceiling at about shoulder height. "What do you even want anyway?"

"Let him go." said Teloxen, eyes darting to where I still had Sallen secured.

"Why should I?" I said, trying to surreptitiously edge away from his hand.

"Because I suspect you would rather not become a pile of dust." he said icily "So stop trying to get away and let him go."

I stopped my slow attempt to get away from Teloxen and reluctantly loosened the bonds of chaos sand that secured Sallen's limbs. As much as I hated doing it, I had a feeling that if Teloxen was willing to suggest it, he was pretty confident that he was physically able to do it, even if that did not necessarily mean that he could bring himself to do it. I did know that some chaos lords, Sallen especially, were able to manipulate matter with Chaos power so that whatever they chose just turned to dust. I had never heard of a Chaos lord who was able to do this to anything living though. The forces generated by the spirits of most living things overpowered chaos enough to keep the force weak enough that nothing fell to pieces. Teloxen's powers had always been a bit strange though. His mix of Chaos lord and Enderlord powers had always caused enough strange looks from others, but his status as lord of balance made other Chaos lords avoid him even before he had been disowned by Zeren. Balance was not something they were comfortable with, even speaking of it felt too much like surrendering to the forces of the lords of the upper realms. The re ad never actually been a lord of balance born into the Chaos kind before Teloxen, and Zeren hadn't reall known what to do with him when he discovered what his child had power over.

I mentally told the tendrils of chaos sand to release Sallen and they did, slowly crumbling backing into their base particles."

"Now get out of here." said Teloxen, moving slightly to the side so that there was enough space between us to allow me to pass by.

"This will not be forgotten." I hissed as I passed "Zeren shall hear of it."

"I shall wait for that with great enjoyment." said Teloxen "Its not like he can make my life any worse." I hastily exited the room, intent on telling Zeren exactly what had happened and how there were lords within his empire who were opposed to him and his lords.

**Sallen's POV**

I fought to keep my eyes open as the bonds loosened around my neck, sending me sliding down the wall to rest on the floor as I lost what support it had been providing.. The loss of air had not done me any good, especially considering the emotional upheavles I had dealt with lately, what with Israphel's actions towards Aryto and Rayko's response. And now it seemed, Teloxen's new found ability to stand up for himself.

"Oh gosh, I think I am going to pass out." said Teloxen, sliding to the ground, hands pressed to his forehead and wings wrapped tightly around himself to keep out external forces.

Okay, maybe not on that last one, but still what Teloxen had done had surprised me. I had honestly not been expecting anyone to come to my aid. In fact, I had desperately been trying to come up with some way to escape from Israphel's bindings without alerting Zeren when Teloxen had entered. Something had alerted him to the fact that I needed assistance, and I suspected that I had the fact that he was a lord of balance to thank for this. Israphel's power would have caused fluctuations in the balance Teloxen strove to maintain, and this feeling coupled with the emotions that I knew he was quite adept at sensing from me in particular, would have tipped him off to the fact that I needed help.

Sliding myself over to where Teloxen sat huddled on the floor, I wrapped a wing around him, drawing a sharp gasp of surprise from him before he identified the source of the gesture.

"Thank you." I murmured to him, drawing him closer. "I didn't know how I was going to get out of that."

"I really messed up." sniffed Teloxen, removing a hand from his forehead to brush away the first traces of tears forming at the very edges of his vision. "I should not have goaded Israphel. Zeren will find out about us, and then he will hurt you. Like he hurt me. Not just outside, but inside too. He'll cast you out and you'll be alone, all alone"

"Sometimes you remind me so much of him." I sighed, absentmindedly brushing a few tears from his face.

"Who?" asked Teloxen, leaning back far enough to be able to look me in the eye.

"Mirexal" I sighed "Sometimes you remind me so much of him it is painful. I miss him so badly. But you are as close to family as I have now, so no matter what Zeren does to either of us, we will stay together and make the best of the situation.

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**A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, please consider leaving a review. Questions for the characters can also be left in a review or PM'ed to me. I hope you have a good day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


	10. Informing and Transforming

**A/N: Hey, Ender here. So we are now at just over three hundred views for this story at the time of posting this chapter. No reviews again, so I'm not sure if you guys don't like the story or if you just don't have anything to say :). Anyway, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Minecraft**

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**Zeren's POV**

"So what are you here to tell me?" I asked Israphel, steepling my fingers and leaning back in my throne. I really needed to do something about this thing as sitting in it for even short amounts of time gave me horrible wing cramps. Gazing down at where my new protege had prostrate himself before me, I gestured for him to speak, the flash of the whites of his eyes, although quickly averted, alerting me to the fact that he was looking at me.

"Well?" I asked, growing impatient with the continued silence Israphel maintained. Sure I had not made him my heir for his speaking skills, but I had thought relaying basic information would have been easy enough even for him in his altered state. For I could sense the Chaos growing within him and knew that if I did not capture him completely within my influence soon, he would grow beyond even my great power and be uncontrollable.

The young lord seemed to battle within himself for another moment before saying "They plot against you, questioning your actions and planning your downfall. If you do not act soon upon this, your reign may come to an untimely end."

"Who?" I gasped, slightly taken aback by this sudden revelation of treachery from within the ranks of my lords. I had always known that not every lords was perfectly pleased with my rule, but to go to that extreme, this was not something that had occurred to me.

"Um Rayko, Teloxen and Sallen." said Israphel, ticking each name off on his fingers as he spoke. "I scouted out their operations area and found out what they were up to a while back when they were foolish enough to believe that I would be interested in joining their little rebellion."

"And why have you not told me of this before?" I asked, a suspicious glare directed at Israphel "Are you sure that you are not a part of their plans?"

"I did not want to blow my cover until I was sure I was in a position where I would be believed." he said, shrinking back slightly under my scrutiny.

I held my suspicious gaze upon him for a moment longer before saying. "Very well, but in the future should any plans of that variety become known to you, you must report them to me at once so that I may make an example of them, to show what happens to lords who dare to defy me."

"Very well." said Israphel, lowering his gaze and obscuring the glow of his gray-red eyes.

**Israphel's POV**

I left Zeren's presence quickly after his implied threat. At least for now I would follow his command of full disclosure. But soon, very soon I hoped, my power would be strong enough to overthrow that arrogant fool. He was merely some self serving lord who though he deserved power simply because he wanted it. But I was a true heir to Chaos' power and soon I would be able to reclaim it.

"Yes" I murmured, laying back on the collection of soft wool blocks that served as my resting area. "Soon I shall claim what is mine by right. Then all realms shall bow before my power!" I stretched, cackling at the realization that my goals were well within my reach, that soon the true glory of Chaos would be revealed. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflective surface of the thin glass that separated my bed area from the rest of my room. I scowled at the image it displayed. My messy brown hair and expression that always seemed about to turn in to a smile might have been seen as pleasing to members of Crafterkind, but it was hardly the kind of image that would send anyone running in fear or make someone look around to see if anyone was watching before speaking of them. No, if I was going to rise to such heights as Chaos said was possible, I needed to have a more intimidating appearance. It sure did not help the matter that that there were very limited supplies in the Nether, and as such I had been forced to cycle through a few sets of cloths every couple of days, which detracts from the image of a terrifying lord more than you might think.

Looking down, I saw that I wore the outfit that I had brought with me that day, the only physical reminder I had left from my time as a naive lord who thought that everyone could just get along without needing to have some higher lord watching over them. But now I saw how wrong I had been. The majority of the creatures found throughout the realms were like sheep, blindly following their own ways until they stumbled into some danger that ended their purposeless existence. They needed to someone to guide them, like a faithful shepherd who leads the sheep with wheat and cares for them so long as they can satisfy his demands.

As I stood up, something caught my eye. Looking over, I saw a spell book lying on the edge of a block, presumably one that I had been reading before being overcome by the need to rest. What had caught my eye though was the page the book was open to. Its art showed a simply dressed man being transformed into some other form more pleasing to him. Interested, I picked up the book, wondering if it could be just what I needed to make myself into someone that lords would actually respect and fear.

"Let's see, what does this need?" I muttered to myself, eyes darting across the page as I searched for the list of required materials.

When I finally found them written at the very bottom of the page, I was surprised at how simple the ingredients were. Most of them I actually had in my room, and the few that I did not have were easy enough to find. The only one that gave me some trouble was the final ingredient, a feather from the Chaos lord the spell was being performed on.

_ Well hopefully hair works too._ I thought, taking a small pair of shears and clipping off a few strands. _It probably will, I mean they are pretty much the same stuff._

Gathering the rest of the materials, I sketched the required circle on the ground, placing the various materials at even intervals around it. I sketched an approximation of what I wished to look like on a scrap of paper, placing it in the center of the circle. I had been extra careful to make it how I wished to look, especially noting the wings that I wished for. Anyone who wished to rule over the Chaos lords, who truly wished to earn their terrified loyalty, must have wings. The mark of a true lords of Chaos was their wings, which I supposed was why Zeren's actions towards Teloxen, his ritualistic wing shredding, had been so devastating to him.

Grabbing the book from where it had slid onto the floor, I flicked it open to the appropriate page, standing before the circle and glancing at the words to make sure I had remembered them correctly. I chanted the spell quickly, doing my best not to mispronounce any of the strange words. I understodd some of the, nut my studies of the language of void magic had not yet progressed far enough to understand exactly what was said.

At first nothing seemed to happen. Then a bolt of pain arced through me, sending me sprawling to the floor. I felt a strange crawling sensations all over my body, and it was all I could do to keep myself from brushing away what mu mind was telling me was covering every inch of my skin. Though my blurry vision, I saw thin beams of light arc out from the spell components I could see, all the beams intersecting just above the paper. Suddenly, the pain running through me multiplied and my vision darkened as I was drawn into unconsciousness.

When I awoke, I could tell that something had not gone as planned, if only because I could not feel the weight of any wings on my back. Pushing myself upright on shaky arms, I looked at what was left of the spell circle, the ring flaking off in places and remnants of components crumbling into dust. The small piece of paper I had drawn upon was the only piece that remained intact, its formerly faint lines now replaced by an image of what I had become, a full color rendition of some strange creature.

_No._ I thought_ No! What has happened here?_ Pulling myself upright, I staggered towards the glass that divided me from my sleeping area, dreading what I might see reflected back at me. One look told me that the spell had not gone as planned. Scrabbling through the spell book, I hurriedly looked for the spell I had used. In my haste, I turned the page one too far, revealing the portion of the spell I had not seen before. With trembling fingers I struggled to hold the book steady enough to read what was written.

"Warning." I whispered "This spell is for Chaos lords only. It is supposed that an attempt by any other lord would result in drastic consequences of the darkest kind. Any lord who attempts this does so at their own risk, upon peril of their happiness and life."

Taking another look at what I had become, I said "Well I guess its not all bad. I may not look like a Chaos lord, but I can work with this. And it most certainly is more awe inspiring than my last form." My body had shifted in a way I had not considered, no doubt due to my position as lord of Creepers. Smooth white skin devoid of any imperfections covered my body, sharply contrasting with the black suit I wore. My eyes seemed to me the least changed, still retaining their red-gray hue though they seemed to shine in a much darker manner than before, as if the darkness that inhabited my very soul was trying to make itself known. They seemed to look even more sinister given my complete lack of hair, which gave my face an almost reptilian look, much like that of the Creepers I controlled. Gold fastenings covered my cloths, the black suit jacket unbuttoned and slightly open, revealing the gray and gold striped shirt beneath.

"Yes indeed." I sighed, taking one last look at what I had become "I can work with this. Most defiantly." I turned and left my room, leaving behind the used spell circle, the paper depiction of my new form drifting lazily to the ground, my exit having disturbed its precarious placement and sent it to rest where it had previously been set.

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**A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If so, please consider leaving a review. I really, really enjoy hearing from you guys and finding out what you like about the story. Questions for the characters can also be left in a review or PM'ed to me. I hope you have a good day and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye! :D**


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